iPad – Exchange Sync Problem

So I spent the last few hours trying to connect a new iPad 3 to a clients Exchange 2007 server.

He had previously created his account on the iPad using a 3G connections, the account was verified and all looked good.

He then went to open his Mail app and got an error saying that the connection to the server failed.

At first I thought it might be something to do with server address/auto-discovery and he was trying to connect over 3G. I headed over to his office and grabbed his iPad, made sure it was conected to his company WiFi, removed the old account, recreated and tested.

Same problem. Checked his Exchange account, active-sync was enabled.

I then went to his OWA account and checked his Mobile Phones under options and the iPad showed up but without a Synch date.

I removed the device from his account in OWA, cleared his iPad, recreated and tested. No joy.

Next I removed the account from the iPad, removed from the iPad from OWA and setup a test account, joined his iPad and…working, no problem.

So at this point I determined that the problem must be with his account. Nothing obvious from his Active Directory or Exchange account EXCEPT – the iPad wasnt showing up as a mobile device in his Exchange settings. Interestingly, it WAS showing up against the test account.

At this point I head back over to the AD user account properties, check security, advanced and make sure the the Exchange Servers permissions are INHERITED (they werent).

Go back, recreated the acount on his iPad – all working perfectly now.